6.5 Fire Alarm and Fire-fighting Arrangements

Question 1

A fire detection and alarm system may be manual or automatic.

Which is being described below?

break-glass units and alarm sounders connected
to a control panel and can only be activated by an individual operating a break glass
unit after detecting a fire

Answer 1

manual alarm system

Question 2

A fire detection and alarm system may be manual or automatic.

Which is being described below?

smoke and heat detectors connected to break-glass units and alarm sounders, designed
to raise the alarm to give early warning, whether or not people are present

Answer 2

automatic system

Question 3

Fire detectors are designed to detect one or more of the four characteristics of fire,
which are…

Answer 3

 heat;
 smoke;
 combustion gas (such as carbon monoxide);
 infra-red or ultraviolet radiation.

Question 4

When it comes to choosing a fire detection system, no individual detector is suitable for all applications.

Is that true or false?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Are these locations suitable for siting portable fire fighting equipment?

near to room exits, corridors,
stairways,
lobbies and landings.

Answer 5

Yes

Question 6

The fire triangle (Figure 6.1) showed that fuel, oxygen and heat energy are
needed for combustion to occur.

Fire fighting generally involves depriving the fire of one or more of these factors, so
methods of extinguishing fire can be classified as:

Answer 6

 Starvation – limiting fuel;
 Smothering – limiting oxygen; and
 Cooling – limiting hea

Question 7

Fires can be starved of fuel in three ways:

Answer 7

remove fuel from fire

remove fire from fuel

dividing big fire into smaller fires